Tactical Strategy Game MASSIVE CHALICE Released In Steam Early Access

The Kickstarted game was released to backers three weeks ago and initial impressions are good. Initially the backer beta was exclusive to Windows, but was made available to Mac and Linux backers the week after, on 1st November.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTFiooCFh7Y

Massive Chalice is a fantasy turn-based strategy on an epic timeline, meaning your heroes age and die, and will have to be replaced by offspring stemming from matrimonial alliances of your choosing. The game was heavily inspired by the original X-COM, Final Fantasy Tactics and Fire Emblem: Awakening, according to lead developer Brad Muir in an interview with USGamer. Fans of the 2012 XCOM remake might find the lack of overwatch off-putting, but according to the developers it was a conscious decision to leave this ability out. The developers have gone with a vibrant and rough-hewn semi-realistic style that makes it stand out and that I personally really like.

Development on the game has been extremely open since it started about a year and a half ago, and if you're curious about how it looks and play, the best way to find out more is by tuning in to one of the "Teamstreams", which are live-streamed on Double Fine's Twitch channel. During the streams the developers talk about Massive Chalice while playing it and they regularly hand out Steam keys for the game. If you miss a stream, you'll find an up to date list of streams on YouTube. The game still has enough funding from the Kickstarter campaign to last through spring 2015, which is enough to fully complete development of the game, but the team has decided to put it in Early Access to gather additional feedback from users to better balance the game and squish out bugs:

QuoteMASSIVE CHALICE isn’t complete, but the game is stable and playable from beginning to end. We expect to launch a polished 1.0 version in Spring 2015 and we are fully funded through that period. We’re super excited to involve all of our backers, along with some brand new players, on our way to the finished game.

QuoteThe entire game can be played from start to finish but there are still a lot of bugs and balance issues. We’re going to be working on them non-stop but we need your help to do that!

MASSIVE CHALICE runs on Double Fine's in-house Buddha engine, used for Brütal Legend, Stacking, The Cave and both Costume Quest games. The game runs fine on my Intel Sandybridge Mobile by turning off some eye candy, though with the occasional stuttering in animations. It's not a graphically demanding game though, as even my GeForce GT 630M can handle it on mid to high settings. I've only put a little over an hour into the game so far, but haven't encountered any serious issues, except a one-time crash when trying to arrange a marriage and the game occasionally not listing my saves.

So far Double Fine has had been on a rather rough patch with Steam Early Access. Hack 'n' Slash is perhaps one of the most innovative and fun games I've played, but despite winning the Grand Jury Award at this year's IndieCade Awards it never made much of a splash when it was released two months ago. Most of the game was however available in Early Access in May and that might have caused it to get less coverage on release. A little over a week later the developer announced that they would be releasing their second Early Access game, Spacebase DF-9, with source code the following month. However, due to several factors, including poor performance on Linux and an unfortunate release announcement, it has caused controversy and raised a wildfire that spread around the company's Steam forums and has yet to die out.

Official About

MASSIVE CHALICE is a tactical strategy game set on an epic timeline from Double Fine Productions. As the Immortal Ruler of the Nation, you'll take command of its heroes, forge marriages to strengthen your Bloodlines, and battle a mysterious enemy known as the Cadence in a war lasting hundreds of years.
Key Features

• Bloodline Genetics - MASSIVE CHALICE features an innovative Bloodline system that allows the player to marry heroes together to produce children. The Bloodline system uses a randomized genetic code for every hero. Their children can end up with the best (or worst!) gameplay-impacting traits of their parents.
• Permadeath - The heroes in MASSIVE CHALICE age over the course of the timeline and eventually pass away. This forces the player to engage in the beauty of permadeath and always juggle an imperfect party of heroes with which to do battle!
• Bloodline Relics - If a hero has fought valiantly enough when they inevitably pass away, their weapon has a chance to become a Bloodline Relic. This powerful Relic can be passed down to any character of the same house in order to carry on the legacy of the fallen hero!
• Long View Strategy - Because the war lasts 300 years, players need to take a long view of their strategy. Decisions have to be made dozens of years in advance and long-term planning is incredibly important. That 3-year-old toddler is going to grow up to be your most reliable melee fighter sooner than you think!
  

MASSIVE CHALICE is currently only available on Steam with an optional soundtrack.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.